


Drop Your Innocence And Leave It At The Door

by nazgularepeopletoo



Category: Marrowbone (2017)
Genre: Childhood, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Incest, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Canon, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:34:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22744864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nazgularepeopletoo/pseuds/nazgularepeopletoo
Summary: Days at the Fairbairn estate were never happy, not even at the beginning.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Drop Your Innocence And Leave It At The Door

It was never easy when daddy was around. It wasn’t too easy when he wasn’t either, but at least when he was gone there was no risk of his temper. Unfortunately he was around quite a bit, especially at the beginning. Jack was four when he started helping take care of his infant siblings, the next year Jane was four and started learning how to be a mother. 

Billy, a year younger than Jane, almost had it the easiest, being the youngest and most outgoing. Somehow that quality was a perk to their father, unlike Jack’s quiet solitude and Janes soft nurturing. It would make sense for the only daughter to be the best off, but Jane got special attention, attention that made Jack sick and found her crying in his closet more often than not. 

It wasn’t a surprise then when their father began disappearing for long stretches when Jack turned ten. He was the man of the family now, and Jane had thrown herself into baking to cope spending more time in the kitchen then in her own room. Their mother started selling her cakes to supplement the houses income after their father didn’t come home for a week and money was growing thin. 

When he did come back he was worse than ever, if only because he seemed more relaxed, more calm. The silence was deafening when he was home; it was quiet until it wasn’t. Despite the change in demeanor, if anyone was out of line they wouldn’t be seen for the rest of the night, even their mother. The children knew that it was better to make themselves scarce those days, and it wasn’t hard. The woods behind the house yielded refuge and a fortress, made out of fallen trees and old blankets. 

~~

It was one of those days that father was home and the children found themselves in their fortress, Billy, now thirteen, and Jack, now fifteen, slouched on the ground with Jane, now fourteen, in the only battered chair they’d managed to salvage from the dump. Jane hadn’t been looking well, had been spending more and more time in Jack’s room hiding. He was worried but hadn’t thought much of it. Father was being particularly cruel this week. 

Both boys scrambled to their feet as Jane gagged, falling to her knees on the ground and retching, spitting up a mouthful of pale bile. Jack was by her side in an instant, pushing the hair out of her face and pulling her against him. None of them had been sick in a while and he was afraid of telling their mother, as she would inevitably have to tell their father and he would get angry and- 

He was pulled out of his racing thoughts by another retch, Jane yanking her body away to avoid vomiting on his shirt. She hovered bent over for a moment, then collapsed on the ground, curling up in a ball seemingly unaware of the mess she got on her legs. Billy crept over, both of the boys watching her with wife eyes. 

“Jane…? Are you okay?” Jack didn’t move, not wanting to startle her, but he needed some kind of confirmation. She shook her head, not looking up.

“I don’t know… mother said it was normal… she said it would last for about a month…” Jack frowned, glancing up at his brother who just shrugged.

“What do you mean normal? When did this start?” Jane winced at the harsh tone of Jack's voice and he silently reprimanded himself. He hated being mean to his siblings, he was just worried and confused.

“About a week ago, I got worried when the blood stopped and mama started crying. I didn’t mean to make her upset.” Now Jane was crying, and Jack started crawling to her when realisation hit him like a brick to the head. He saw red, but got ahold of himself. He could deal with their father later.

Finally closing the distance between them, Jack pulled Jane onto his lap holding her tightly and kissing the top of her head. Billy came over as well, sitting next to his older brother and taking one of Jane’s hands. He didn’t understand what was going on yet, but he knew it wasn’t anything good. Jack wouldn’t look so angry if it wasn’t.

“Jane I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you. I'm so sorry.” Jack was rocking slightly now, brushing away Jane’s tears with his thumb. “I’ll kill him I swear I will.” 

“No Jack,” she sniffled, squeezing Billy’s hand and trying to collect herself. “No don't. You won’t beat him, he'll just kill you instead.” The idea of their father being able to kill someone wasn’t too far off with what they’d seen him do to their mother. And the amount of times Jane had taken care of Jack just showed that their father almost felt threatened by how big he was getting. 

“I’m strong enough Jane I could do it,” Billy interjected, but before he could continue she sat up, taking her hand back.

“NO!” Both boys blinked in shock. Jane never raised her voice. She started crying again. “I can’t lose either of you please, please just let it go. I don’t want you hurt I couldn’t bear it. Please just let it go.” She buried her face in her hands, swaying in place. 

The fortress was silent save for the sound of her sobs as the weight of the situation fell on them. There really wasn’t anything to do, was there? They would just have to wait, bide their time until god or the law took care of him. Jack prayed that it would come soon, or he would have to help them along. One way or another, they would be free. He would make sure of that.


End file.
